Rainy day blues

I've got the rainy day blues. It's getting dark so early here. I missed out on this part of the season last year, and didn't remember how early the darkness arrived. It kind of sucks the energy out of me.

I've been working, as you know. Danny and I took a trip to Colorado. It was my birthday on October 26th, and Halloween happened. I am sure I'm missing out on some things.

Yankees won last night.

I just watched this Johnny Cash video, so it's adding to the Blueness. I watched it years ago and loved it then too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go

Games

Not much is new with me. Just adjusting to the working life =) My sleeping patterns have improved greatly. I love the structure.

My shifts have all been 6am-2:30, but tonight I have my first closing shift. Wish me luck. It can be kind of brutal, as I remember. The thing that I am not looking forward to is that I have to work at 6am tomorrow morning, so I am going to have to run home and run straight into bed.

I've been playing a lot of board games. We've been having board game nights lately, it's been fun.

This post isn't too exciting, just regular life stuff. Hope you're doing well.

First day on the J-O-B

I am slacking again. Catch up: I went to Bellingham, Washington for a few days. We rode Amtrak, which is a fun way to travel. My friend, Angie, and I went together to visit her sister and nephew. We had a lot of fun. We even got to ride jetskis!!!! I loved it.

For the last couple weeks I've been applying to jobs, and as you can see by the title of this entry, I GOT ONE!!!! That's probably part of why I haven't been writing. It's kind of an ego-killer to go job hunting.

Today was my first day, and I enjoyed it. I am really grateful to have a job. It felt good to be back to work.

My fellow employees are nice, and there is always something to do. It wasn't as intense as it might have been if I were fresh to this particular company, Zupan's, but I have worked for them before, so I know a few people.

I am kind of impressed. People who work for Zupan's tend to stick with them for a long time. For example, the manager of the store I work at has been working for them since he was 16 years old. Now he's in his late 30's early 40's. A lot of people know each other at different stores and some transfer or just cover shifts at other stores when they need help. It's kind of a fun little community.

A lot of people who are related work here too. I met three people today who are related to people I used to work with, and I met a father and son today who work at the particular location I'm at. That makes it feel cozy to me.

I am just getting over being sick, but it didn't really effect my working. I think I was running on adrenaline. Luckily I got off at 2:30, so I've had a chance to rest some. My shifts this week will be 6am-2:30pm. Pretty good, except for the waking up at 4:45, that was pretty brutal.

It was Danny's birthday yesterday. He really enjoyed it. Our present to each other for our birthdays is/was plane tickets to Colorado.

I'm too stinkin' excited for that. We're going to visit our friend Todd, and play around there.
Well, I'm off to fill out my W-4 form.

should be in bed

Can't sleep. Still applying for jobs. There is not much reward involved in looking for a job (unless of course you get the job). There's not much of anything. Not even rejection. There's just the unending questions in the back of my mind, "Are they going to call me back? Should I call them? Have they already hired someone?" I've followed up with some of them, but I should follow up with more places tomorrow. I can tell this is going to be a long process, or at least it's appearing to be that way.

I went rafting for Labor day. Really fun. I will show you some pictures. I'm going to bed now.

I am doing it!

I am doing two good things:

1) Keeping to my commitment to write more often, but keeping it short.

2) Applying for jobs.

Heck yes! I had my first job interview yesterday for Andina. It's a Peruvian restaurant in the Pearl. There were gobbs of people attempting to get the same position.

We all showed up at 1pm to put our name on the list. The list was quite long, but you had a general range(within a half hour- hour) of when your name would be called to interview. So, there were about 30 people waiting in the same seating area, and needless to say you could cut the tension with a knife.

I found it to be quite humorous. A good study in human behavior.

I enjoyed Jels, the gentleman who interviewed me. I enjoy everything about the place and would love to work there. I really am happy to have had the experience to interview there no matter which way the ball rolls.

Yard again

I just wanted to show you the progress it making. I am so proud of these little guys. My mom always said the green thumb would catch me one day, and I think it's starting.

I found out some good tips on tomatoes. Danny was reading this and sent it to me. It's short. http://farmerdonkruger.blogspot.com/

We're going out to Sauvie's Island today to pick some peaches and make a peach pie when we get back. I'm pretty excited!

Too long

It's been so long since I've written. I have thought about it many times, but haven't put in the time. I realize I can write short entries, but feel too much pressure to fill you in on every detail. So I am going to attempt to write more often with smaller entries.

I went to California for a week, about a week ago. I went to a conference for Celebrate Recovery. It's the Christ-centered twelve step recovery group I am a part of. It's not just for recovering alcoholics -it's for basically everything. Just dealing with the pain that life brings. It [pain] manifests itself differently in each of us, whether it be food addiction, codependency, anger, or sex addiction... the list goes on. But it does come out in one way or another. I say these things because I think sometimes people don't like to think they have problems, but the truth is, we all have problems. I think the quicker we admit it, the quicker we can have the opportunity to get healing.

It was a really uplifting time. There were amazing speakers, and really practical skills I learned.

I am going on a job search this week. I am scared. I am going to bring in my application to places I want to work (restaurants- I want to be a server) that aren't necessarily hiring.

I like to avoid rejection, not seek it out, but this will be a growing opportunity for me.

Here's to keeping it short. Wish me luck on my restaurant hunt. If you have any tips or hints or any information I would gladly listen. Thanks!

2 year anniversary!!!

I didn't mention it yet, but it's Danny and my 2 year anniversary today! One of the things I wanted to complete before this day came was our (very) little garden area. I planted some lettuce earlier in the year in the really bad soil left here before us, so I decided to invest in some good soil from Concentrates. (A really great place by the way. I will attach my Concentrates review to the bottom of this entry.)

I told you the plants I planted in the earlier entry from Pistil's Nursery. They are still little babes in the ground, but I am still a proud momma. Our tomato plant is growing strong. We had BLAT (Bacon, Lettuce, Acocado, and Tomato)sandwiches two nights ago, and they were the most scrumptious BLAT sandwhiches I've had. We used our first tomato from the garden. It was a proud moment. I don't like raw tomatoes, but it was good enough to eat raw. The best tomato I've eaten.

Only one tomato was ripe enough to eat. I am waiting in anticipation for the others to ripen. I got a hanging basket as a present for leading step study, and I love it. It adds a lot of life to our deck. The sun's coming out :)

Concentrates Review:
Oh my word. Urban gardeners, and heck, every gardener I am yelling out to you. THIS PLACE HAS WONDERFUL DEALS! They sell in bulk, and also in smaller sizes.

For instance I got:
-A box of 4lb Black Gold organic fertilizer and
-2 cu ft (56.6 L) Black Gold waterhold cocoblend potting soil (OG)
That's what I mean by small

They've specialized in organic agriculture since 1938. Here's the website list of some of the stuff they carry: soil amendments, meals, fertilizer, compost, livestock feeds, supplements, chicken supplies, pet foods, and a wide variety of salts.

They aren't the type of place you buy a trowel.

They are very helpful. I will warn you, it's intimidating when you first go because it's a warehouse, but there's a little side off to the right. You don't have to know much. Just go, talk to the person behind the counter and they will help you out. If you don't know specifically what you want, they are more than happy to help you. They had great recommendations for me.

You tell the woman/man your order, he/she writes it on a paper, than you take it to the (usually) dude who's loading stuff and he will load it in your car for you. The minus one star is for this whole transaction. It wasn't explained well and there was some wait time, but I just stood outside my car with my book and read while I waited. It wasn't that long, but this process could be optimized.

Chicken videos

If the picture wasn't enough, here's 2 chicken videos. That's Ingrid feeding them. I know I filmed it sideways, but I wanted you to see their cute purple house in the background. I really liked their place.

Gamenight last night

We went to Brad's house for game night. He and his wife, Ingrid, have chickens. As you can see, I have been having some chicken exposure. Danny and I have wanted chickens for a while, but know it's not real practical, or useful, in an apartment, so once we move to a place with a yard than chickens will be joining our lives.

The look on this chickens face is wondeful. I love it! The other picture is of Brad (left) and Omar (right) battling it out in Grid Lock.

Deer sighting

I followed this momma deer with her two babies. They were on a cliff above us and saw them coming down. There were different bends and I happened to time it just right to where I thought she might come down. It may not be that exciting to you, but the whole thing was very exciting to us, as you will be able to tell by my enthusiasm.

They were right on the trail. Someone could be walking up and just run into them. How great would that be? Anyhoo, I like deers.

Eagle Creek

We hiked Eagle Creek, two weekends ago, I think. Great spots to swim. It's a fun hike. 14 miles round trip. We camped out at 7 1/2 mile camp (but it's really 7 miles to get there.) There were a ton of people there to swim around Punch Bowl Falls, and a ton of hikers. I have never been on such a crowded trail before.

Once you get further along it mellows out, but in the beginning I was a little weirded out by all the people. I hike to get away from all the noise, hustle and bustle, so having a whole bunch of people is not my cup of tea, unless I intentionally go with a big group of people.

I've heard about Tunnel Fall, but this is the first time I experienced it. You walk through a little tunnel under the Falls, hence the name, Tunnel Falls. Oh, we saw deer. I will put the video on.

Pistil's Nursery

This place is wonderful. You know how you go in a place and your soul can't help but sing? This is that place for me. They have everything to please your senses (with the exception of taste, but we got our fill of that by stopping at Monsoon Thai aka Thai Laundry as the local Mississippians call it).

The ladies at the front know their stuff and are more than willing to impart their wisdom on a listening ear (or two). I wasn't looking for anything in particular, just a few plants and some edibles. She asked very specific questions about where we were planting, the sunlight exposure, the type of soil I was using, fertilizer etc. I loved how much she cared. She genuinely seemed like she wanted to help me find the right plants. She encouraged using organic soil, fertilizer, etc. (which I already do), but she did it in a way that wasn't forceful or shaming, and I really appreciate that. Both that she encouraged the use of organic products, and did it in a way that was helpful, not forceful.

Soap box second: I believe in being nice to the earth too, but there is no need to shame people about it. That seems to be a lot of peoples tactic and I don't know about you, but when I feel guilt or shame I want to resist it, not go along with whatever message they're trying to sell.

Back to the review: We came out with a few kale, a couple lavender, some swiss chard, and two autumn sedge plants (or beach grass-as I like to call it).

We almost got out of there with a free chameleon that hitched a ride in on one of their plants. Danny and I are not ready for a reptilian commitment. But if you're wanting a free chameleon I'd give them a call. It was four days ago, but they might still have him/her.

They have chickens walking all around, inside and out. They are so fun and entertaining. They're all different types of chickens too, some of the funniest chickens I've ever seen. They do a great job with upkeep, while maintaining a creative environment. What I mean is it's the perfect balance of creativity and organization. The two rarely go hand in hand in my life. The organization doesn't like to stop by for visits often enough.

Here's Patricia!

I just thought I would show you a picture of Patricia. She's my British friend I met at the beach.

If you want to know about good places to visit you should visit Yelp.com
It's a website that reviews businesses, mostly restaurants, and it's a great resource. You can become members, and give reviews too. I'm on there too, so you can become my friend.

I'm going on a walk through Forest Park. Enjoy the sunshine!

Facundo Maldonado campeonato Codobes de baile de Tango

We took tango lessons from these two while we were in Argentina! Danny worked with Facundo, (the bald man pictured) at Intel. We both danced with him, and he taught us how to tango. If you can't read Spanish, he is the Tango champion in Cordoba. I love it! The woman he is dancing with is the most sassy woman I've ever met. She's hilarious, and one heck of a dancer, and of course he is too. I am so proud of him!

Went to the beach

I went to the beach this weekend with some ladies from a small group I lead. You want to know what my favorite part of the trip was? I met an older English woman in a store/cafe called Java Depot, named Patricia, and she was fabulous! I loved everything about her. She was honest, sassy, loved food, had a great sense of humor...she just seemed to enjoy life. I got my picture taken with her. At first she was shy about it, but then she got into it, it was cute.

I bought a present for Danny from Patricia(I can't tell you what it is because sometimes he reads these entries, so that would give it away), but she gave me this free container of Applewood smoked salt. You open it up, and it is like you just built a campfire. It smells so good. It was so sweet of her because she knew I liked it so much after we talked, and she snuck it to me, and said, "Now take this, it's just for you." I told her I thought she was an angel. She was so sweet. I love meeting people that are a breath of fresh air.

The beach we went to was Neskowin, it's near Lincoln City. I had never heard of it before this trip. Everyone in town had a certain demeanor that I enjoyed. They all seemed comfortable and real, it was refreshing. It was my first time going to Grocery Outlet there, so I told the cashier chick that I loved the store, and that I was a Grocery Outlet virgin, so she gave my friends and I each a $5 off coupon because it was our first time in there. They have SUCH great deals. There's a type of hand soap my mom usually gets that's organic and smells wonderful. She pays $6.99 for it, and at Grocery Outlet it's $2.99. I bought her some it, and I am going to let her know where she can get it cheaper for the future.

I would highly recommend it for bathroom products. They have Jason products and Alba Organics. I didn't think they would have organic products, but they do, as far as body products go, I didn't look through other stuff. My husband got home from his trip this weekend, so I am going to go greet him.

St. Paul Rodeo

We went to the St. Paul Rodeo with some friends. It was Danny and my fifth year attending. This year they had two buffalo come out and steal the show! It was so funny. There's arborvitae (small tree) planted all around the stadium, and the buffalo were on a mission to knock it all out. That part wasn't scripted, everyone had a good laugh.

The picture might be fuzzy, but it's of the buffalo ontop of a trailer with the one armed bandit on the horse (named because he was in an accident and his arm was amputated, but he still rides.)

Herman Creek

I've been having fun times lately. I went backpacking with some friends two weekends ago to Herman Creek in the Gorge. It was the longest stretch of the Gorge I've seen.

The trip was really relaxing. We weren't really expecting much because the reviews of the place weren't that great, so it was better than we were expecting. We had a great lookout at Indian point (pictured). Danny and I walked carefully around the big body of rocks to the backside, and sat and took in the beautiful view. It was an amazing drop off that kind of made your stomach flip if you look down.

The campsite was better than we were expecting too. We found some unopened Japanese beer and shared some of it. It was 22% alcohol, and not tasty.

Bathroom's done

I thought, while I am at it, I'd show you the bathroom I painted too. It's amazing what a little paint can do to liven things up.

I think this is a cute little bathroom.

The room completed

I finished painting this room a while ago, but I forgot to put the picture on here. I also had to put a picture up of my dad opening presents on Father's Day. He reverts back to being a three year old sometimes, and every once in a while you get to capture it on camera.

Rattlesnake

My mom stumbled upon this picture in Danny's Flickr account. She freaked out. I guess this guy was pretty big. I thought you might like to see him.

*BTW-This is the rattlesnake we saw, that I wrote about when Danny and I hiked the Tom McCall Preserve, near Hood River. The entry was May 13th. This is not a zoom lens, Danny was that close when he took the picture, now you might no why I felt so stupid about the way we handled the situation.

still haven't finished up the trip summary :)

I love how long this trip summary is taking me. I still won't finish today, but I am making progress. Maybe I'll try to make them shorter, so it goes quicker, we'll see.

Day 3: We drove from the old growth redwood forest to China Town in San Fransisco. Those trees are spectacular, by the way. They seem to hold wisdom. That may sound funny, but when I look at them, I think of their wisdom. I tend to personify inanimate objects, because that's the way I am, I can't help but feel that way.

San Fran was fun. I always enjoy driving over the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a foggy day, which was a nice relief from the heat we drove through. Neither Danny or I have air conditioning in our cars, and that can get to you after a hours of sweating. I looked up in the sky as we crossed the bridge and it looked as if it was never ending because you could see the top of the bridge. I told Danny it looked like it was going up to Heaven.

SF (I am abbreviating more and more) was a little chaotic for the mood I was in at the time. I couldn't help, but think, 'what's the point?' When I looked up at all the huge designer store buildings. 'When all these people are struggling is it really that important to have a louis vuitton handbag?'

I'm not without my flaws, but these thoughts do come to mind.

I enjoyed looking in the shops in China town, and noticing most carried the same merchandise. We headed on, looking for a place to eat, and were very strongly urged by several Chinese women to eat at their restaurant. Heads up: I don't tend to respond well to being pressured into something, in fact, it makes me want to steer clear of the source of whatever is trying to pressure me.

So, again, we headed on to find a more gentle Chinese women who encouraged us to eat at her restaurant. We looked at the menu, and chose to eat there. We had been eating camping food minus the steak, so this was a huge treat for us. We ate pork buns, Chinese broccoli and beef, and string beans with prawns and steamed rice. I thought it was wonderful, and Danny thought it was good. We differed on what we liked best. He really enjoyed the pork buns, which don't really do it for me. They're a little to much bun and not enough pork. I loved the prawns with string beans. I don't get prawns that much because they're expensive, but boy do I love them!

After SF, we drove to Santa Cruz, where my parents were staying, and arrived at 10pm. We took a shower and slept on the ground of the motel. That shower sure felt nice. We were thankful to have a place to shower in the middle of our trip.

Every year my parents stay at Terrace Court in Santa Cruz. It's right on the board walk, and it's cheap, so they keep going back. My mom loves that you can fall asleep listening to the ocean. It really is in a great location, but I would not tend to revisit year after year. Who knows, maybe I'll feel that way about a place someday.

Day 4: We drove to Big Sur with my parents, and took a short little hike there. The main hiking spot was closed off due to a fire. There was a beach cove that was blocked off to people going down, to preserve it, but you could look at it from above (pictured). Danny and I thought it looked like a fun spot to live, we could use the waterfall as our shower. We would just have to get rid of all the tourists :)

We went to Los Palmos for dinner, a small Mexican joint right by Terrace Court. The food is good at a good price. We ate outside, and enjoyed everything, including the questionable behavior of local Santa Cruzer's. By questionable behavior I mean, people walking slowly in the middle of the street yelling about this and that. Ummm...I'll actually stop there because I am not sure who all reads this, and some things would probably not be appropriate to say.

Danny hadn't been downtown Santa Cruz since he was younger, so we drove there. It's within walking distance, but we have had encounters with people at night, so we chose to drive at night from now on.

By the way, the "Keep Portland weird," bumper stickers started in Santa Cruz. Except theirs said, "Keep Santa Cruz weird." And they have.

We got out of the car and a tall white guy with a glazed over look came up to us, and asked if we had a cigarette. We said, "no." And he replied, "Is it because I'm Asian?" and walked on. His dog followed behind him with a leash tied to his neck dragging the man's luggage on the ground. We all couldn't help but laugh. One he's white, not Asian, and two, there was just an oddness of watching a dog dragging the mans belongings on the ground.

We perused the Santa Cruz bookstore, which has to be one of my favorite bookstores, if not my favorite. It's titled Bookshop Santa Cruz. They lay the books out in a way that invites you to read them. There are recommended books by the staff that give little summaries from a real person's perspective. What I mean by real person, is that you know they're standing right behind the counter and if you want to clarify something you can ask.

They actually have places to sit. Fun places to sit. Being from Portland, we have our beloved Powell's, but there is almost a discouragement from sitting and reading for an extended period of time. Which is understandable because they're trying to SELL the books, but I am thankful for the bookshops encouragement to read.

I think that will be it for today.

It's official

Part of me wanted to erase my last entry, but this is me, and I am not all good, and not always in a good mood, so I am letting it stay.

Something great that did happen was my graduation! I LOVED IT! I had so so so much fun. I sat by a big Samoan guy and one of my really fun art friends, and all the people around us were fun too. We kind of brought other people into our silliness.

I brought a pink umbrella in case it rained, which it did (lightly), and it ended up being so helpful. My parents, Danny, and my friend Renee came and they spotted me right away. I loved having them there. They were so fun to have in the stands because I could tell they were so excited too. So we just threw up our arms together and made dancing movements back and worth, it was really entertaining.

The energy in the place was more than I expected. It was a great crowd of people. That's why I love going to sporting events, because it's a group of people being brought together for one common purpose. The majority of the time people seem to set aside their differences and become a community.

One of my favorite parts was the ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) standing up and getting sworn in. ROTC produces officers in all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces except the U.S. Coast Guard. Everyone gave them a standing ovation. Those men and women are amazing. I am so glad they got a little chunk of appreciation about their future service to our country.

The speakers were pretty concise, and some were even a little funny. all around, I just loved it. I received my diploma, shook every persons hand that was willing to shake my hand, and did a little dance because I was so excited about it. It was such a great day. I am so thankful for the people I sat next to, and the folks who supported me, that's what really made it.

We went to my grandma's for a party afterward. I made/bought some yummy food, we talked, played games, and hung out. We had a lot of fun. Kira, Ben, My aunt and uncle, and my grandma were there, along with the others who came to the ceremony. My brother stayed up until 5am the night before, finishing up a paper, so he didn't come to the ceremony.

We sat outside and ate. It is so peaceful there. It's just a bunch of big open space, and fields with our own special little enclosed yard with flowers and a garden. There are certain places where time slows down, and that is definitely one of them. It's one of those places where I can go and take in the beauty around me.

We went inside and it started raining shortly after. We left the door open and played board games while it rained outside. It was so great. It was one of those tropical rains, where it's still really warm outside. I was just a contented cow all day. The one silly thing is that I never got a picture taken of me that day. Everyone assumed Danny would have his camera, which he did, but he forgot it in the car, and then we got to my grandma's we just sort of forgot about that part of things.

So, I am going to dress up in the cap and gown and get pictures with people this week, and pretend like I did it on the official day. I got a digital camera for my graduation present from my parents, so now I can be sure to take my camera with me. I took a couple pictures of Danny and I today with it. That's the picture you see. Goodnight.

Totally MAD!

I drove to Corvallis today with a friend after watching an art therapy presentation at Marylhurst University. We have 2 opportunities to pick up our art work (for the senior show) one of them being today at 6pm. There was traffic between Portland and Corvallis and I got there at 6:15 and the guy was gone. There is no one to open the gallery besides him, and he is gone. I am so angry!!!! My work is in a room right next to where I am sitting and I have to make a special trip and spend 3 hours driving just to pick up my work on Monday. This is SO maddening and there's nothing I can do about it.

Been Busy

Hello. I have had a little anxiety about not writing for a while but I have been busy. I will write some more about our trip.

Day 2: We woke up to the beautiful sunrise and explored around the rim. We weren't wearing snowshoes, and I was running up a snowy hill between a tree and a boulder, and my hole leg fell through. I grabbed onto the boulder, so I didn't fall all the way through the hole. My knee smashed against the rock, and Danny came and helped me out. I was so freaked out. I started crying, partially from the pain of hitting my knee, but I was scared of falling through a big snow hole.

I didn't really feel like exploring after that because my knee was hurting and I was a little shaken up, so we snowshoed back to our car, and headed down hwy 101 toward the Redwoods. We stopped at The Oregon Vortex. "The Oregon Vortex is a spherical field of force, half above the ground and half below the ground. The word "vortex" simply means a whirpool of force... It is an area of naturally occurring visual and perceptual phenomena, which can be captured on film." I am not going to go into detail about it, but it's worth visiting if you near the area. The quote and more information can be had at their website: http://www.oregonvortex.com/

After that we drove to the Redwoods and camped at Del Norte Campground. We grilled steak and corn on the BBQ there. It was delicious. When you're out camping food tastes immensely better than normal, but this still was an amazing steak...To be continued again. It's my brother's birthday, so I am going to go spend some time with him.

:) Danny looks so little next to that Redwood.

Car troubles

My car broke down on the freeway today. The clutch crapped out, and the car lost power completely. I had to wait for an hour to get it towed. I think today I have had serenity because I did not get mad at all (which is abnormal in that situation). In fact it was almost an exciting experience. I got to practice my Spanish with the tow truck driver, and I got to ride in a tow truck for the first time and see how it works.

As I told you before, I have my art reception tonight, so I am just thankful that it didn't happen later in the day. Danny came and picked me up from Isa's Auto Service in West Linn. My car is still there. The repair cost is more than my car is worth. My car is blue book valued at a whopping $500.00. They estimated it would be $650.00. We figure I can't get a car as good as mine for $650.00, so I think we'll just look around for estimates elsewhere and see if we can get it lower. I know that Isa's is usually reasonably priced, but I have nothing to lose by looking around elsewhere.

I better get to work, and earn me some car repair money :)

I thought I would have time to write about the trip today, but considering the circumstances, it will have to wait.

Crater Lake

I probably won't be able to get through the whole trip recap, but I will get started on it.

Disclaimer: My brain is a little iffy right now because I busted my butt painting all day, and didn't really take any breaks. Then I came home and made dinner, so I am pretty tired. Danny and I made cherry chicken lettuce wraps for the first time, and they were delicious.

Day 1 (Saturday): Danny and I drove a little over 6 hours to get to Crater Lake. It was so beautiful. A little Crater Lake background: It was once Mt. Mazama, which erupted, imploded on itself, and is now Crater Lake. It's the deepest lake in the US, and the 7th deepest in the world.

In the beginning of the day we were at the rim village at Crater Lake (where there's a lot of people), and not a single person spoke English. This was a common theme throughout our trip (to a lesser extent elsewhere). It was odd, we were the minority. The majority were composed of Indians (people from India, not Native Americans), and Asians.

We snowshoed along the rim of Crater Lake, and set up our tent overlooking Wizard Island. We ate dinner on a fallen tree branch (as pictured). It was really peaceful. We had the whole place to ourselves. We did not see a single other person once we passed the road barrier.

K, that's about as much as I can handle right now. I have my art reception tomorrow in Corvallis. I am pretty excited about it. It will be nice closure. I will add more tomorrow.

To check out more of Danny's Crater Lake pictures visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dvarner/

Road trip

Danny and I went on an 8 day road trip. This is our first day back and we have been zombies today. I think you guys probably know how it is. You come off that high of being on vacation, and enter back into reality. I am going to have a busy day tomorrow, but I will do my very best to get an entry in on Tuesday- along with some pictures of how our trip went. I hope all you Oregonians are enjoying this beautiful weather.

Paint process

I am currently painting my parents bedroom. I am not done, but I wanted to show a few pictures of the process. I will put pictures on when I am done. I am going on vacation for a week, starting this Saturday, so I won't put the finished product on until the beginning of June.

Love the weather

This weather has been wonderful! I woke up early this morning and read out on my deck. It was so peaceful. I know it's been said before, but when the weather is nice in Oregon it is one of the most beautiful places to be. This weekend was pretty mellow. We went to a potluck picnic at Barton Park. We had a lot of fun. Afterward we went with a friend to Stepping Stone and had breakfast at 10pm at night. We stayed until a little before 1 am playing board games. Good times.

Past weekend

This past weekend was a good one. We went on a hike around Hood River, around the hills of Mosier. It was a great little hike. There was Balsamroot, which look just like miniature Sunflowers. Other plants include: Desert Parsley, Purple Vetch, White Yarrow, Blue Bachelor Buttons. Everything is in full bloom. I wrote a haiku.

The Gorge
Indelibly Etched
cornucopia of Life
Hills of majesty

We saw pigs run into the street on our way up. It was so entertaining to see the farmer attempting to round them up, and encourage them to go in the correct direction. The eventually got out of the street and ran in and out of the trees in the orchard. The pigs looked like they were having a blast.

As I was walking along the path I heard a frightening noise right by my foot. I jumped and screamed, and then looked to see what it was. It was a rattlesnake! Danny and I were not very smart about how we handled the situation. I just think we both were so caught off guard because we were not expecting rattlesnakes to be in the area. We stood around it and looked at it for a little while before we figured out it was a rattlesnake. Danny took pictures, and I just stood there still in shock. It was coiled up and we didn't think much of it. Now I know this is the position they are in before they strike. Man, I feel pretty stupid looking back. I also feel very blessed that nothing happened.

Danny and I are going camping in a couple weeks, and I know we are going to continue hiking and camping for many years, so I think it would be wise for us to educate ourselves on what to do when encountering different reptiles, animals, etc.

Mother's Day was fun. We got to spend it with both our moms at different times. It was a nice relaxing day, and both our moms seems to enjoy their day. I have to get back to work.

Paws

I went to an animal shelter today, Paws, in West Linn, to pick out a kitty because my mother in law, bless her pea pickin' heart (That's what my hick family says, I don't know what the pea pickin' is about) went to this animal shelter and found out they had kittens. They are a little over a week old, so they have to stay for about a month more, or so, but I guess we are coming into kitten season now.

I could really use a cat for some cheering up. To be perfectly honest I have been having kind of a tough time lately. I mean it's not tough all the time, but in spurts. I am in a twelve step recovery program and I am on my fourth step. If you know the steps, you will know that the fourth step is widely considered the hardest step (there are a lot of disclaimers I want to add to this comment, but I will leave it at that). I am not going to go into the specifics of it, but it's a long process to work on your fourth step, and there is a lot of pain involved in it. When you are finished there is freedom and a better understanding of yourself, and a lot of the history behind what makes you you, the good and the bad. But you have to go through the muck first. Well, I haven't reached the freedom part, and I am still in the muck. The freedom part comes with step 5.

Back to the animal shelter. There was one orange cat, named George, with cerebral palsy and he had no control of his muscle function and he was flopping around, and falling over, attempting to take himself from one place to the next. It broke my heart because he looked like he was suffering (but I found out he's a very happy kitty). I broke down and started bawling right in front of the lady. I could not stop crying for the longest time.

Shockingly, I wasn't that embarrassed. I was mostly confused at why I was reacting so strongly. It's an odd feeling to react so strongly to something and not even know why you feel the way you do. I am practicing accepting not knowing what's constantly going on with me emotionally. I have a feeling this too while take a while.

You have to see this cake

As I told you last night, it's Angie's Birthday, and one of our friends, Adri, is crazy about birthday's. She is amazing about the efforts she goes to to make someone's birthday magical. As you might have guessed she made the cake you see before you. The flowers are decorated muffins. She has a true talent for making fun cakes. I have to run, but I thought I would share the wonderful creation.

game night

Fun night tonight. We played games at the Lucky Lab Brew Pub. It was fun times. We had 10 people and we hung out for about 4 and a half hours and played games. I loved it. I am so happy to find people in my life who love to play games. Most the people were from Danny's work and they have such fun games that I've never heard of before. I am going to go to bed. It's my best friend's birthday tomorrow, and some friends and I are going to wake up early and make breakfast together, so I better get some shut eye, it's pretty late. Feliz cinco de mayo!

Kali the cat

I got a new phone, not new, an old phone, new to me. I broke my other one, so a friend let me have an old one of his. Anyway, I evidently can't send messages through Bluetooth onto my computer anymore. But I looked up her picture on their website. The pictures does not do her size justice. She is a Russian Blue and she is very sweet, but so large.

I also reached 200,000 miles on my car and I took a picture of the odometer, but that too is on my phone. It was a really exciting moment for me. The funny thing is now my car is starting to make a funny smell. That car has been so good to me. His name (yes, it's a he), is Isigio. He's a Geo Prizm, and he is wonderful. All I have ever done for that car is take it in for oil changes. Amazing. I am grateful for his service to me. Well, I better get to work.

check this out

I thought this was cool, so I put it on here. Pretty amazing. I don't know this person, I just read the article and put it on here, in case you were wondering.

"A design student made a battered old Skoda "disappear" by painting it to merge with the surrounding car park.

Sara Watson, who is studying drawing at the University of Central Lancashire (Uclan), took three weeks to transform the car's appearance.

She created the illusion in the car park outside her studio at Uclan's Hanover Building in Preston.

The car is now being used for advertising by the local recycling firm that donated the vehicle."

This is an article from BBC News England

cat search update

I forgot to tell you, we went to another place, The Pixie Project to look for cats, but no luck again. It was a great place to look for cats though. They all had pretty good temperaments, but none of them were quite right. I am really going off of gut instinct here in finding the right cat and none of them have hit the spot yet. If you're wanting a cat fix or you want a nice adult cat, then I would highly recommend The Pixie Project. It's on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd on the East side of Portland.

The cats are all in one open room and you can just sit and hang out with them. There was just one girl that comes every once in a while and just hangs out there because cats make her happy. It was funny. There was a cat in there that had an eating problem (overeating) and when it came into the place it weighed 30 pounds! I didn't know they could get that big. She went to her food dish and had an eating session 5 or 6 times while we were in there. I felt bad for her, but she was pretty sweet. Actually I took a picture of her with my phone. I put her picture on here tomorrow.

Long time, no write again

Hey guys, I am just writing to write. I have been sick. Danny's keyboard is messed up, so I am going to keep this short. Oh good, it's working again. It's been glitching lately. I am going to write some tomorrow to fill you in on the weekend. It was fun times. Sometimes I get stressed out about not writing for a while and just have to jot a little tid bit down to make myself feel better.

Hola Diego! Danny just told me you still read the blog, so cool. I miss you man. I have not been practicing Spanish that much, hardly at all actually. I feel sad about it, but I am not really doing much to stop it. I will study Spanish again. I will, I will. I need to get your e-mail address from Danny so I can write to you instead of leaving you this message on the blog. Sorry to all of you who are not Diego :)

blah to perfectionism

Tuesday (going to Corvallis) was good and bad. The good: seeing old friends and YUJI! Yuji is the printmaking teacher at Oregon State and he is the greatest teacher. He's native to Japan and he has the funniest sayings. Like, "Happy Accident," "Looks good,"... k, I realize these aren't funny because you can't hear him or me saying it, but trust me, it's funny.

The bad: I worked for about 10 hours and did not like anything I made. REALLY. Some of it was okay, but I went with the intention of creating work for my senior show, which I am feeling quite insecure about. I think I am putting too much pressure on myself. I've been discovering that I am a perfectionist (Only with certain things, my car, and many other things are not examples of this).

I am pretty hard on myself, and I want to learn how to go a little easier on me. And other people close to me for that matter. I was listening to a CD (Cloud and Townsend Resources) on perfectionism and my eyes were opened. I highly recommend listening to CD's by Cloud and Townsend.

http://www.cloudtownsend.com/

Dr. Townsend is a clinical psychologist and marriage and family therapist, and Dr. Cloud is a clinical psychologist. These guys are relationship and life gurus. They are so knowledgeable about what it means to live fully.

I have to take off and get started with my day.

Printmaking

I am super excited. I get to go to Corvallis on Tuesday to work all day in the printmaking room. I am going to bust out whatever it is that I am going to do for the senior show. The senior show is one piece of artwork put up in the Fairbank's Gallery at OSU by graduating art majors. There's a reception on June 3rd Wednesday, at 6:30 with food, family, and friends. I have a pretty good idea of what I am going to do, but I am sort of flexible to change some things. I have already ordered the frame and the matte board and arranged the layout of what goes where, but I have not made the actual pieces to go in it yet. It cost $135 for the whole thing. Wowzers. That's a lot of dough. I had major buyer's remorse after I did it because I never make quick decisions when it comes to buying things that cost more than $5 or $10. And even then, I usually take my sweet time.

I am so happy that I get to do printmaking again. It hasn't been that long and I already miss it. I am a little scared that I won't get an opportunity to do it again in the future, unless I take another class, because it's not like there are a lot of printmaking presses around to use. Or at least not that I am aware of. I should go to bed. Goodnight!

Today

Today was a beautiful day. Danny and I looked for a kitty at the Oregon Humane Society, but had no luck. We are hoping to find a kitten, I know, I am sure that's what most people want, but they mostly have adult cats. We didn't really jive that well with any of them anyway. There was one potential one, but she shed a little too much and needed to be brushed a couple times a week, and realistically that's not going to happen. If she was a great fit for us I would put up with the extra work, but I just don't think she was the right cat for us.

So, the search continues.

I planted my lettuce today. I probably should forget about it for a little while or else I'll probably check on it every other day, and wonder why it's not growing faster. I am going to plant some mint after I eat my dinner.

I better go eat or else my food will get cold. Wish me luck for the kitty search, and if you hear anything about kitties for sale let me know.

Mannequin Collaboration Installation

I am finally putting this on here. This is the collaboration piece with the mannequin. You can click on the image to make it larger. Here's a little snipit of what the thought process is behind it:

The woman’s fears are coming alive. Her view of herself is distorted. In the fabric beneath her there are distorted breasts and rolls of flesh. Each member took on a different area of distortion. In every woman there is a desire for beauty. With that desire comes questions and doubts.

The strings that bind her are significant because she is powerless over this obsession. She is a puppet to what she takes in through her senses. She compares herself to the beautiful women she sees, and she feels she is not enough.

Can't sleep

I can't sleep, but I am tired. I wanted to say, Happy Easter. I hope you had a wonderful Easter. I really enjoy the added perks of being married, one of them being that we have two different Easter celebrations. It's fun spending time with both families, and just hanging out.

Holy Moly. I ate too much delicious food that day. Gurdy was at The Varner's house. Gurdy is a 170 pound some type of Mastiff (a dog). She is so cute. In fact...dang. Danny hasn't put the picture of her on his computer yet. I would love to have a big dog like her one day. K, I am real sleepy now. Nos Vemos!

Obsessive

I started to get obsessive because Auntie Weanage (AKA auntie Kathy) asked me to put the mannequin photo on and I was going to do it, against my better judgment because it's after midnight, but I can't find the stupid CD-ROM on Danny's computer and my laptop doesn't have one, so I have to ask him in the morning. I will post it though.

I got to speak Spanish today!!!

I got to speak Spanish today!!! I know a woman, named Sarvia, and she is from Mexico, and we talked a little bit (in Spanish) before I left for Argentina, and this is the first time I have seen her since I have been back, and I had so much fun talking with her (in Spanish). In English too, but it was fun actually practicing Spanish again. I forgot about how much fun it was. I loved it!

She speaks some English, so my brother and I taught her some slang words. Well, not slang, just words that have double meanings. Por ejemplo: My brother wanted was trying to explain that someone is rusty means that they haven't practiced something for a while, AND it is the word used for oxidized metal, etc...

We had a lot of fun.

I made potato pancakes this morning. I really enjoy potato pancakes. I went for a run!!! Woohoo! I set out to do all the things I wanted to do today (all of which are not mentioned, and I will not bore you with those types of details, because they're not really all that exciting.)

Today was a good day. I drove over the bridge (which one? you ask. I don't know. It was in Portland. I really should figure out which bridge is which. I think Freemont is the rainbow arched one. I remember it because I think since it's a rainbow shape, then it's "free," for Freemont. I really hope that's right or else my little remembering tool is useless.

Anyway, driving over the bridge, and I was blown away at the beautiful sky!!!! I was so thankful, and was just in awe of the beautiful creation before me. I love the skies we have hear sometimes, they are incredible.

I got lettuce and mint to plant in my garden, which is a trough-like garden, that hasn't yet begun, but will very shortly. I don't know if I told you guys about the lettuce and mint, but if I did, please forgive me.

I am just so excited that I am going to plant things I can eat!!!!! What a wonderful idea. I know it's not a new idea, but it's a great one, and just because it's common does not take away the fact that it's a great idea, at least not to me.

I am going to ZZZZZZZZZZ land. Hope you all have a good night sleep!

Went to Bend

So, for my graduation present Danny and I went to Bend. The first day we went snowshoeing to Paulina Lake in the Newberry Caldera and camped out. It snowed 2 inches while we slept and that was on an already 3 feet of snow. There were 30 mph hour winds, and it was cold! We had fun, but I don't think we'll be back to camp in the snow anytime soon. It was a learning experience.

The second day We went snowshoeing back to our car and headed to Cabin Creek Bed and Breakfast. I cannot say enough about how much I loved this place. The word perfection has been tossed around many times when describing this place. The hostess, Melody, makes homemade cookies for you every night, and superb breakfasts every morning. This woman needs to be cloned. She even has a movie collection, well, for me it's a collection, I don't really buy movies, so it seemed like a big selection.

It's decorated with sort of a modern western motif, and the rooms could not be more cozy. She has kept everything impeccably clean. I could go on and on. Okay, I will a little more. There was a king-sized bed with silk sheets, a hot tub outside, a gas fireplace that can be seen from both sides. It kind of acts as a divider between the room, and where the hydrotherapy jacuzzi is. So you can see it from the jacuzzi and from the bedroom. We stayed in the room called, "Cabin Romance," and I would highly recommend it if you want to try it out.
http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/oregon-bend-cabincreekbedandbreakfast-reviews.html

The first night we ordered in from China Doll, and their Beef Lo Mein is delicious, and extremely cheap, and they have really big portions. It lasted both Danny and I two meals.

The third day we went to the High Desert Museum. If you're in the area, I would recommend it. Danny and I thought we would spend an hour or so there, but we ended up staying for 4 hours. There was so much to see. If you like history at all it's filled with lots of it!

We went to some hidden ice caves afterward. That sounds cooler than what they are. We went to two of them, one (Boyd) was vandalized with spray paint and someone built a campfire in it. I have been to ice caves before, but this one I did not feel that safe at. Ice caves are dark, you have to bring a head lamp, lantern, or flashlight (or some other source of light). Boyd was a lava tube, basically a pathway formed where lava used to flow. They are cold, and the ones I have seen have really cool icicles coming from the ceiling.

The second ice cave we went to was called Arnold cave. It's not really a cave though. It looks like someone through a few grenades or dynamite somewhere and blew a big hole in the earth. It's where people used to get there ice 100 years ago, before those fancy freezers came along.

That night we went out to a very nice dinner at Zydeco. Another place I would highly recommend. It's a bit spendy, but worth every penny. There bread is the best bread I have ever eaten. It's from the Village Baker. It is amazing. Danny got Baby back ribs, and I got the red fish with dungeness crab. Both were excellent.

I have to go to a meeting. I hope you Portlander's enjoyed the beautiful day today!

100th post!

I want to put a couple pictures on. One is a close up picture of two kids, a girl and a boy that I sewed into fabric for my art project. And close ups of each of them.

One is a pic of my family.

There's a wall display of my encaustic paintings. Encaustic is painting with hot wax and fusing each layer together. It's really fun. Each square is 6" X 6".

I will show you more later. I am going to visit my grandma today. She lives in Lebanon, so I should head out. I will probably write again tomorrow.

contemplation

I graduated!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my goodness. I have so much to fill you in on. Unfortunately I don't have any time right now, but I just realized that I didn't even tell you that I graduated yet. I have to post our installation pictures on here (my art collaboration with the mannequin). And my other installation, oh, and I guess I could take some pics of my printmaking from this term and put it on here too. I just checked my grades and I got all A's. Holy Moly!!!! I am really happy because it feels like such a great way to end my college career. I felt like this was a last great term to have. I worked hard, and I enjoyed my classes and the projects I had. I enjoyed my classmates (for the most part), and phew, I am finished.

My friends and family gave me a surprise graduation party to top it all off. I felt really honored and loved. I will share more details later. I have to go to my meeting pretty soon. BYE!!!

When to buy organic

I just got the newest Shopper's Guide to Pesticides from the Environmental Working Group. It's a really handy list to help me remember what to buy organic. I thought you'd be interested in downloading it, too. Check it out at: http://www.foodnews.org

I don't know if you guys are like me, but I attempt to buy organic produce most the time, but sometimes I go to other places like Trader Joe's or elsewhere where there is not always a full selection of organic produce. Plus it's nice to pay a little less money every now and then. So the link will give you a heads up on when to go organic and when it's not as harmful to go without it.

There a printable wallet-sized version. HEALTH TO YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES TOO! I just made that up and I like it.

PS

My chicken pot pie turned out to be SO tasty. It's going to be in the regular rotation from now on. I loved it!

Hey All!

Well, I've just been finishing up with school. I feel so excited and sort of sad that this chapter of my life is coming to an end. What next? I have been looking for jobs, but have not yet applied. I am going to do that once I graduate. I plan on going on a little vacation at the end of March and then starting work after that. I am so nervous.

I have not worked for someone else besides my parents for like 4 years. I like working. I need to be around other people though.

A lot of people around me have been getting sick lately. I am nervous I am going to catch something, so I am trying to stay low today and rest. I felt a little bit of a sore throat coming on last night so I took some Welness Formula. That stuff works well for me.

I have been exploring new places in Portland lately. Like North Portland. I went to Gravy. Such a good restaurant on Mississippi. They make their own corned beef at the restaurant. If you know me you know I love corned beef hash. It was delicious. They are spendy, but they have HUGE portions. I got three meals out of my one order. So, the price is worth it.

I went to Mississippi again yesterday to go to the hardware store, the ReBuilding Center, and ¿por qué no?.

If you want to work on some fun home projects, and you need inspiration go to the ReBuilding Center. Oh my word! I love it there. I thought of so many fun ideas, but I only bought what I went there for and that was a couple slabs of wood for my current project for my class.

I plan to go back after I graduate. I would love that. I want to learn how to weld. I should take a welding class. That something on my list of things to do before I die. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

This whole almost being done with school thing has a lot of excitement. There's so many directions in which my life could head. I know I need structure. That's really important for me, because I don't know how to create structure for myself. I'll write again, and maybe I'll still be sorting through the same questions again, and maybe I'll have some answers. We'll see.

Jimmy Mak's and Cafe Nell

Saturday, February 21st was my mom's birthday. We went to Cafe Nell for breakfast. I believe it's on 10th and Kearney in NW Portland. It's a little pricey, but cozy. Especially when they have the fire place going. The servers were all very helpful, and even the bathrooms were cozy. They had a nice candle burning in each of the bathrooms with a fresh flower, and very nice throw away paper towel to wipe off your hands. You know those really thick, good quality ones?

Later that night we went to Jimmy Mak's. Linda Hornbuckle was playing and she rocked the house. She's the woman singing in the two video clips. I would have showed her singing for longer, but I have had trouble in the past with longer videos. We had a lot of fun. Danny and I got the 100% lamb burgers, and they definitely cook it more 'well' than what you ask for, but it was still good. I would highly recommend going to Jimmy Mak's for some feel good music. There's a cover charge. I know it varies, we paid a $10 cover to see her. The shows start at 8pm. They have Lebanese food, Cajun, hmmm...I can't remember the other two. There were 4 different types. Bottom line: good, fun jazz club.

Danny and I have been realizing how much we like jazz since we went. We didn't even know how much we liked it until now. It's nice because Danny and I don't typically have the same taste in music. Now we can both agree on jazz.

Oh, speaking of Lebanese food...Danny and I went to Nicholas' Restaurant and man, it is good. I am even going to post the address, in case you want to go. 318 SE Grand Ave
Portland, OR 97214. It has very good ratings, and very affordable prices. This is the second time I have been there, and I am going to continue going back for more.

I should go. I have to do some grocery shopping. I am going to make a chicken pot pie tonight. Danny had a craving for it, so I thought that would be a nice thing to make. Wish me luck, I have never made chicken pot pie before.

Blazer game

I don't know if I ever told you this, but the Blazer's won their game. I wanted to post a pic I took of the Rose Garden with my cellphone.